A Gift for You, Take Two
by unfinishe
Summary: Cho attempts to outdo Jane's gift. Pre-Chisbon. Spoilers for Red Sauce


**A Gift for You, Take Two**

Summary: Cho attempts to outdo Jane's gift. Pre-Chisbon, spoilers for Red Sauce

A/N: I had the idea for this a while ago, but I wasn't as into the whole Chisbon thing yet, so... Anyway, enjoy

Disclaimer: The Mentalist and all its characters and themes belong to CBS and the show's creators. If I owned the show, I would be having a bit of trouble as to whether Jane or Cho would be head-over-heels in love with Lisbon. .

* * *

  
Cho knows he can't outdo the pony. He knows that no amount of money will get Jane to take it back. He also knows that there is no way he will ever be able to get Lisbon a gift that will make her smile as much as that damn pony did.

It's Monday, two weeks before her birthday. Cho's first idea is a puppy. His mom's neighbor is selling them. The mother is a stray she took in, but she had the vet check her and the puppies out, and they're all okay. So Cho goes over to the woman's house, looks them over, and picks out the first puppy he sees, hoping intuition will help.

When he gets home with the thing, though, he realizes that he's woefully unprepared to have a puppy running around his apartment for the next two weeks. He's got no dog food, no bed, no nothing. At least he's got one thing going for him: his apartment isn't a mess, like he's sure that Rigsby's is.

So he grabs the puppy and drags it to the nearest pet store. He asks for help from one of the assistants, and, less than an hour later, he's back home, and the puppy is contentedly chewing on a Milk-Bone.

That night, Cho tries to put the thing in its new bed, but five minutes after Cho sets his alarm and puts his head down on his pillows, the thing starts whining, loudly. Cho can't get anywhere close to sleep, so he finally gets up and goes into the living room. He picks up the puppy, brings it back into his bedroom, sets it down on the bed, and then climbs back in. But five minutes later, the thing is licking his face, and he still can't get to sleep.

He opens his eyes and glares, but then he finds himself staring into the puppy's green eyes, and instantly falls in love. And it's then that he realizes he's never going to be able to give the puppy to Lisbon.

So for the next week, Cho tries to take careful notes on Lisbon's behavior, and quickly finds out that there's one thing that motivates Lisbon more than anything else. Food.

So he thinks, and he thinks, and eventually he comes up with an idea to take her out for dinner at a ritzy restaurant near his mother's house. He goes to get a reservation for her birthday, only to find out that the restaurant will be closed by then, but he's already gotten a gift card. So he leaves the restaurant and gives the gift card to his mother, who is absolutely delighted.  
It's Monday again, one week before Lisbon's birthday, and he still doesn't have a gift. He hears Rigsby and Van Pelt discussing it whenever she leaves the room. Jane casually announces that he's already got her gift, that he's had it since the week after her birthday last year. Cho tries not to glare at him, and goes back to his paperwork.

The puppy still doesn't have a name. He thinks about naming her Teresa, but that's just too obvious.

* * *

  
Friday's here, and he still doesn't have a gift. He goes to every store he can think of. He goes to the grocery store and walks up and down every aisle twice. He goes to the mall and goes into every store (skipping the lingerie stores, of course).

And so Monday rolls around again, Lisbon's birthday, and still there's no gift. Luckily, they finished up their case the day before, and they're stuck doing paperwork all day, so Cho sneaks out during his lunch break and hurries to the nearest drug store. He miserably picks out a small bouquet of roses. Just six. A half dozen red roses, which doesn't sound nearly as sweet and well-planned out as a dozen.

He grabs a card, and just as he's turning toward the checkout counter, the candy aisle catches his eye. He notices just about the biggest box of chocolate he's ever seen, and he can't help imagining what Lisbon would look like as he hands it to her...

He hurries over and reaches out for the box, but a pudgy hand comes out of nowhere and grabs it before it even brushes his fingertips. He looks up to see the fattest man he's ever seen in his entire life, clutching the box of chocolates in his hand.

The man leans down menacingly. "You need something?" he asks threateningly.

Cho thinks about pulling out his badge, or pushing his jacket out of the way just enough so that the man can see his gun, but realizes that this guy could probably squash him with one pudgy thumb.

So he says, "Uh, no," and hurries to the checkout counter before he can start anymore trouble.

It's later that day. Cho's written a quick explanation of why his gift is so lame, and he's kept the flowers hidden underneath his desk all day. Finally, it's time for the gift opening. Jane's got his eyes closed as Van Pelt and Rigsby both give Lisbon huge boxes of chocolates. Cho starts to feel a little better about the fat guy incident.

Jane pulls out a small gift card and hands it to Lisbon. Cho knows without looking that it's for some ritzy restaurant.

"Dinner's on me," Jane proclaims. Rigsby immediately looks eager. There's no way Cho's going to be able to beat this gift. No way that he's going to beat any of their gifts.

"Okay, eyes closed," Lisbon tells Jane. He obeys, covering his eyes with his hands as well.

Cho bites his bottom lip and holds out the flowers for Lisbon to take, the card tucked in the side. She seems a little surprised but says to Jane, "Okay, go."

"Hm..." Jane seems thoughtful for a moment. "It's a puppy. No, wait, dinner for two."

"Wrong," Lisbon says, a bit smugly. Jane opens his eyes in disbelief, then turns to stare at Cho. In fact, Rigsby and Van Pelt staring at him, too. Cho knows how weak his gift is, he doesn't need the three of them to tell him twice.

"Thank you, Cho," Lisbon says. "Now who's ready for dinner?"

That immediately distracts Rigsby, which immediately distracts Van Pelt, and Jane's still a bit smug at how well his gift went over.

Cho wants to skip out, wants to go home to his nameless puppy and drown himself in the six-pack in his fridge, but he can't leave now, so he goes to dinner. They all share a bottle of wine, but Cho tries not to drink too much. He won't have Lisbon or Van Pelt to drive him home. Unlike Jane and Rigsby, he thinks sourly.

And still, the puppy doesn't have a name. He thinks about giving her back to his mother's neighbor, or giving her to his mother, but he can't get rid of her. She keeps staring at him with those huge, innocent green eyes.

* * *

  
The next day at work, Lisbon comes up to his desk. They're all still swamped in paperwork, so there's no escaping for Cho.

"Hey," Lisbon says. Rigsby, Jane, and Van Pelt are at lunch. Cho brought a pathetic-looking sandwich, still too depressed to make anything more.

"Are you okay?" she asks.

"Fine," Cho says, signing the bottom of a form and putting it to the side. He grabs another one and starts working. "Why?"

"You just seem..." Lisbon hesitates. "I don't know, off. Something bugging you?"

He shakes his head and goes back to his paperwork.

"Is this about last night?" Lisbon asks. "You know you didn't have to get me anything special. I can only imagine how much Jane spent on dinner."

"That would be the problem," Cho mutters to himself.

Lisbon obviously overhears, because she says, in slight disbelief, "Is that what this is about?" There's a slight bit of humor in her voice. "You were trying to outdo Jane?"

Cho mutters something unintelligible.

She laughs. "Cho, I hope you know that your present will last a lot longer than any of the others'."

Cho looks up, frowning. "What are you talking about?"

"The chocolates were a nice thought," Lisbon says, "but they're already gone. I finished them off last night. And the dinner only lasts one night anyway. But those flowers... Cho, provided I don't do something stupid, like forget about them, or forget to replace the water, they'll last a week, maybe longer."

He stares at her incredulously.

"Thank you, Cho," she finishes. Then she leans over and quickly gives him a kiss on the cheek.

"Happy birthday, Lisbon," he mumbles as she walks away.

That night, when he gets home, he finally writes the puppy's name on her food dish.

_Rose._

* * *

  
**A/N: I don't know about you, but I thought it was sweet. Lol. Review!**

Off to take over the world,

Crazy Girl


End file.
